Many films have puzzled everyone
with their depiction of exorcisms and demon worship. However, it is interesting
to identify what the Church believes. Here the Orthodox point of view will be
given, but we first need to identify the source of this issue, i.e. the Devil.
The Devil was created by God as
an angel, called Eosforos, being the brightest of the angles. However, due to
his free will he chose to oppose God’s plans. Hence he and those who followed
him became fallen angels, being not evil in nature but by will and action. In the Bible they are referred to by various
names, depending on the work they are assigned to, such as: devil, satan,
serpent, deceiver, father of lies, tempter, Lucifer, murdered, chief of
darkness, dragon, veelzevoul, veliar and eosforos. They wished to be
independent from God, therefore a revolution took place among the angels, as
expressed in Revelations 12:7-9,
“And war broke out in heaven:
Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels
fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any
longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil
and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his
angels were cast out with him”.
Satan has under his control and
leadership legions and invisible powers; all of whom know and accept the
existence of God, recognising therefore the true and devoted Christians. Their
goal is to employ methods or deception in order to enslave man against God and
the Heavenly Kingdom. Demons oppose the redemptive work of Jesus Christ for the
salvation of mankind. They place obstacles in order to lead the faithful away
from God. However, the Apocalypse (2:10) states: “Do not fear any of those
things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some
of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten
days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life”. This fight against good and evil will prevail
until the end of days, until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, where the Devil
will be destroyed.
The first to exorcise demons
within the Christian tradition was Christ. In the New Testament he often
expelled demons from the possessed (Mark 1:23-27, Luke 4:33-35, 9:43, Matthew
10:1, Mark 16:17, Matthew 7:22). However, the NT rejected popular uses of magic
incantations and rites, as seen in all the Hollywood movies, due to the fact
that they took advantage of superstitious religiosity (Acts 19:13).
Therefore we read in the New
Testament that in the name of Christ, one is able to cast out demons and to
destroy the evil powers, (Matthew 10:8). Church Fathers even refer to the issue
of demons and exorcism, showing that this is a belief and a practice which is
real for the Church. Orthodoxy accepts demonic possession of individuals and
even of objects through the Sacrament of Baptism, where the satanic powers are
exorcised.
To banish the demons, the Church
instituted the service called exorcism. The word derives from the Greek word εξορκίζειν that
means to deliver from evil spirits, to expel (an evil spirit). The exorcisms
are prayers said by the priest in order to invoke God and expel evil spirits.
The renunciation of the Devil during the Sacrament of Baptism shows the
importance of this belief, introducing the newly baptised person into the
communion with God, a soldier of Christ, fighting thus the ‘good war’ against
the evil spirits.
The priest states:
“Drive out from him (her) every
evil and unclean spirit, hiding and lurking in his (her) heart. The spirit of
error, the spirit of evil, the spirit of idolatry and of all covetousness that
works according to the teaching of the devil. Make him (her) a reason endowed
sheep of the holy of Your Christ...”
Later on in the Sacrament a
dialogue commences:
“Do you renounce Satan, and all
his work, and all his worship, and all his angels, and all his pomp?
I do renounce him
Have you renounced Satan?
I have renounced him.
Then blow and spit on him.
Do you join Christ?
I do join Him...”
So we understand here that it is
a requirement that the faithful have to oppose evil and take the side of God.
However, there are other prayers written by Saints, such as Saint Basil the
Great and St. John Chrysostom. They are prayers for those who are afflicted by
demons and sickness in general. Other
prayers were written by St. Modestos, Martyr Trifon, St. Hypatios (who wrote an
exorcism prayer for afflicted men and animals), St. Mamas and many more.
These prayers were normally read
in order to protect a person from affliction, rather than after some demonic
influence. The service of exorcism (outside Baptism) is a simple service, where
the priest merely reads out the prayers. This is the case because it was not to
be used frequently by the Church, since the service of catechumens at the
Service of Baptism was considered sufficient for the banishment of evil.
How does someone determine that
one is possessed? It is a hard thing to accomplish, especially when one looks
at past cases, mainly during the medieval era in the West. There should be a
distinction, between psychological problems and possession; however, the
exorcist has no certain criteria to determine whether or not a person is
actually possessed.
What we all need to achieve, in
order to live a good and prosperous life, according to God’s will is to follow
his commandments, his example and liv within a constant state of communion
(koinonia) with Him. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”,
(Rom. 12:21).
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